Promises
by Tahiri Robinson
Summary: When Cornelius continuously breaks promises to Wilbur, Wilbur decides to go back in time *again* and confide in Lewis. Lewis' reaction is different than expected, and in the end Wilbur and his dad make up.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**Well, here it is! My first 'Meet the Robinsons' fanfic! I will probably be working on this one more than my 'Star Wars' one for a while. Anyway, R&R people! :D **

**Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own _Meet the Robinsons_. Duh.**

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><p>Wilbur hopped up the front steps of the Robinson home and was greeted by:<p>

"Ring my doorbell!"

"No, ring _my_ doorbell!"

Spike and Dimitri never gave up, did they? Wilbur put his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows. "Come on guys, do you really think I need to ring the doorbell to get into my _own_ house?" he said with a smirk.

"Aw, c'mon, just ring my doorbell!" begged Spike.

"No! If you're going to ring anyone's doorbell, ring mine!" Demitri interrupted.

"Guys,, can I please just go inside?" Wilbur shouted.

His shout was lost in Spike and Demitri's banter. Wilbur shook his head and chuckled. He reached over to open the door, when suddenly it was opened from the inside.

"Oh, heya Lefty." said Wilbur as he stepped inside. He dumped his book bag on the floor. As he walked through the house, he saw that pretty much his whole family was busy. Lazlo and Tallulah were fighting, again. Carl was no where to be found, Aunt Billie and Uncle Gaston were at their racing antics again, and as Wilbur ventured further into the hosue via tube, he could hear his mother and her all-frog band rehearsing.

He approached the music room, and opened the door enough to stick his head in. His mom glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him.

"Hi sweetie!" she nearly had to shout over the music. Wilbur smiled, and entered the room. He sat down a ways away from Franny, while the song went on for a minute or so more. When it ended, his mother called "That was great goys; take five!" Then she came over to Wilbur, hugged him, and asked, "How was school?"

"It was great!" Wilbur said enthusiastically. Though, he had practically failed his math homework, nearly gotten detention for daydreaming in science, and his social studies teacher had asked (yet again) what new developments were going on at Robinson Industries. Wilbur, of course, had to say "No comment" which made his teacher cross with him for the rest of class. He was just so happy that today was Friday. Earlier that week, his dad had told him that he would take him to a baseball game on Saturday. He had since been eagerly waiting for the week to hurry up and end. Most-likely failed algebra homework could wait.

"Boy, someone's in a good mood today," said his mom with a smile. "Hey Wilbur, why don't you go find Carl and see what's on the menu for dinner? I'm going to finish up here. Hopefully your father won't be late _again_."

Cornelius had bee coming home very late from work every night that week. That made Wilbur a tiny bit uneasy, since that meant that there was more than likely some big project going on, and there was a chance that his dad would have to work on Saturday.

"Okay," agreed Wilbur. "See you later Mom!" And he ran off just as the frogs were returning from their break. As he disappeared our the door, he heard his mom clap her hands and say "Okay, from the top!" Wilbur grinned, and ran off in search of Carl.

Wilbur decided to try his room; maybe Carl was there looking for _him_. Sure enough, when Wilbur burst through the door he found Carl standing in from of his desk.

"Just the robot I was loo-" Wilbur stopped short when Carl turned around, holding Wilbur's algebra paper and an unimpressed look on his face.

"Hey kid, how do you expect to explain this D- to your parents?" he asked. Wilbur ran over and snatched the paper away.

"That… is an excellent question. But nothing to be concerned about right now." Carl rolled his eyes. Wilburn tried not to let Carl kill his joy, but he was right. He'd have to explain his paper sooner or later. And right now, later sounded best. He had decided he would tell his dad_ after the game. _

"Anyway; what's for dinner?" asked Wilbur, stuffing the paper in his desk.

"Nice way to change the subject," chided Carl. "But we're having spaghetti." Wilbur smiled. His favorite, for more reasons than one. He remembered a few months back to when he had left the garage door open, gone back in time, met Lewis, and brought him here. That chaotic spaghetti dinner was unforgettable. Though, dinner was almost always like that around his home. With the exception of a guest from the past, Bowler Hat Guy and the T-rex.

"Great! My favorite!" said Wilbur, and rushed out of the room.

"Wait! What about your paper!" called Carl.

Wilbur hadn't heard him however, and was already shooting up the travel tube. Carl sighed. "What are we gonna do with that kid?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello my FF friends! :) I'm finally getting into the groove of this place; but I'm trying not to update so so very often. I'm afraid of getting burnt out, and running out of ideas! Speaking of ideas, I'm always, always open to ideas on any of my fics! Just include any ideas in your review. ;) **

**...Well, what are you waiting for?**

**R&R!**

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><p>Wilbur ran into the dining room just as Carl was announcing, "Dinner is served!"<p>

Looking around expectantly, Wilbur was disappointed to find his dad was not home yet. He trudged to his chair and slumped down into it. His cheerfulness was wearing down quickly. No one seemed to notice this, however.

As Wilbur shoveled a meatball into his mouth, he glanced at his uncle. Gaston winked, and Wilbur notice him loading his meatball canon underneath the table. Wilbur smiled, halfheartedly. He looked over at his mom, who was seemingly distracted for the moment. Gaston jumped on the chance, but it turned out that is sister had seen his attack coming a mile away! Franny blocked the flying meatball with ease, and jumped to a fighting stance. Thus, the epic battle that was Spaghetti Night began.

Wilbur wasn't paying much attention, except to dodge the occasional meatball or Italian sausage. He was staring intently at the clock. His dad should've been home hours ago.

"Wilbur!"

Wilbur jumped, and turned to his mother.

"Oh, uh, yeah Mom?"

"I said, do you want dessert?" Franny looked a little concerned at her son.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Wilbur replied, in an uninterested way. As soon as he had said this, Carl sent two pieces of toast flying in his direction. Instead of catching them like usual, the raven haired 13 year old let them hit him square in the face, and fall to his plate in front of him.

"Wilbur, honey, are you all right?" asked his mom, holding out her own toast for Carl to slather peanut butter and jelly onto.

Still staring at the clock, Wilbur mumbled, "Uh-huh."

Franny sighed. She knew that Wilbur was closer to his father ever since the events a few months prior, but she had never seen him like this. Racking her brains, she tried to remember if her husband was supposed to do something with their son that weekend. She couldn't think of anything, so she shrugged it off and continued with her sandwich.

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><p><span>~LATER THAT EVENING~<span>

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><p>Wilbur was nodding off, when the garage door opened, and his father crept in.<p>

"Dad!" said Wilbur, jumping up from his seat.

Cornelius gasped, and nearly screamed.

"Wilbur, what are you doing up this late? Is something wrong? What happened?" His father began to panic.

"No, Dad! Nothing's wrong. I was just waiting for you." stated Wilbur. He was sort of disappointed that the first thing his dad thought when he saw him, was trouble.

Cornelius blinked, clearly confused. "What for?" he asked, taking off his coat.

"Well, I was, um, hoping you hadn't forgotten about tomorrow…" began Wilbur nervously, kicking some non-existent dust on the floor. Cornelius' face blanked for a moment, but then he flushed bright red.

"Oh, Wilbur! I'm sorry, we're going to have to do that another time." his dad sad with a yawn. Wilbur's mouth fell open and his shoulder's slumped.

"But, Dad you promised!" cried Wilbur. Cornelius looked at his son's sad face.

His big brown eyes were too much like his mothers; almost too much to resist! But he really had to say no.

"I'm sorry son, there's an important meeting at Robinson Industries tomorrow that I can't miss. Maybe some othe-"

"But you _promised_!" Wilbur said again; his voice higher pitched than before.

"I'm sorry," his dad began again, but Wilbur had taken off and was already gone.

Cornelius signed, and sat down, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily.


	3. Chapter 3

**A terribly short chapter this time around, but it is what it is. R&R, and be sure to enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Not sure how often I should do this... but anyway I do not own _Meet the Robinsons _in any way shape or form. :P**

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><p>Wilbur awoke the next morning with a fresh wave of disappointment. Now he had nothing to do all day long. He was sure all of his school friends already had plans, since Wilburn had been going on and on all week about how he was going to a game that Saturday with his dad, and wouldn't be available to hang out.<p>

He sighed, threw his covers off and dragged himself out of bed. He didn't even bother getting dress before he made his way to the kitchen.

Usually the Robinsons ate every meal together, but today Cornelius had left before anyone else was awake and Wilbur had slept in; so everyone had ended up eating cold cereal and going on about their day.

Wilbur poured a bowl full of crunchy, colorful cereal and dumped some milk over it. Carrying his bowl, he shuffled over to the travel tube. He was just about to step under, when he heard a voice behind him say,

"Travel tube and cereal; probably not the best combination."

His mother walked in and seated herself at the kitchen island. Wilbur, mouth full of cereal, looked down at his bowl and realized his mom was right. So, he sulkily seated himself next to Franny and continued eating. They sat in the morning quiet, until his mother said, "You know your father is really sorry." Cornelius had felt so bad about it, the night before he had stayed up worrying about Wilbur for an hour before falling asleep. Wilbur continued to sit in stony silence. His mom sighed. "Your father said you guys can do something together when-" Wilbur banged his fist on the counter top.

"That's just it Mom!" he cried, "Dad never keeps his promises!" Franny looked exasperated.

"He's very busy Wil-"

"Yeah, world famous inventor doesn't have time for his own son. Even with a TIME MACHINE he doesn't have any time!"

Wilbur hadn't realized how upset he was about the whole thing until he had yelled it all out. He got up, and stomped over to the travel tube, and his mom yelled, "Wilbur wait!'

Too late. Wilbur had stepped under and disappeared. A split second later, Franny heard a yell and her son reappeared. Only now he was covered in cereal and his hair was full of milk. His mom was struggling with not laughing. Wilbur, on the other hand, was furious. He set his now empty bowl on the kitchen counter and walked stiffly out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Nothing really to say... only that this is another short chapter. :P Enjoy, and remember to review! They really fuel me, and encourage me to write more. Please excuse mistakes, I'm still looking into beta readers!**

**...FYI, I'm really fueling/basing off my own experiences as a teenager/child. Ha, it really helps. xD**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I _DO NOT_ own 'Meet the Robinsons', blah blah blah. *makes weird face***

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><p>After taking a shower and getting dressed, Wilbur no longer felt sticky, but his mood was still sour. He headed up to his room to have a look at something fun to do.<p>

When he reached his bedroom, he saw his door was already slightly open… Wilbur walked over to it, and pushed it open.

"Carl…?" he began, but stopped short. There, in front of his desk, stood his mom! In her hand was her son's failed math homework. On her face, a look only a parent can give, the Stare of Death (a.k.a. Eternal Grounding). Wilbur cringed, casually turned on his heel and started back out the door.

"Not so fast young man." Oh, how petrifying the voice of an angry mother is. Wilbur gulped, and turned back around.

"Wilbur, what's this?" now his mom wasn't so much angry as disappointed and… sad?

"That… is an excellent question." Probably not the best time for his signature smart remark, but it always seemed to slip out… His mother put a hand to her face and almost looked like she would cry.

"I was going to tell you, I swear!" Wilbur began quickly, "I just forgot about it!" Once in a blue moon, it was the truth. And today was apparently a blue moon. He had been so upset, he hadn't given his failed math a second thought.

"Wilbur, I know you're smarter than this!" his mother cried, emphasizing the paper in her hand. "Your father and I both know you can do better! You're a Robinson, Wilbur. I know you can-"

"NO!" Wilbur yelled. Not again. He was tired of being compared to his genius father. "Stop it Mom! I'm not like Dad; I'm not a whiz in school, I don't know everything! I'm my own person!" he shouted, his voice raising with every syllable.

"_Wilbur_! I didn't mean…"

"THEN _WHY_ DO YOU _KEEP_ SAYING IT?" screamed Wilbur.

Wilbur was almost sure his mom was going to cry now. Her hands were covering her face, and she heaved a sigh.

"Wilbur." came Franny's quiet voice from behind clasped hands.

"Yes Mom?" Wilbur had felt so empowered when he was yelling, but now he felt so small and meek. And afraid. _Terribly_ afraid.

"You're grounded. Go and work on cleaning the garage until your father gets home."

Wilbur's mouth fell open. It was only eleven in the morning. His dad wouldn't be home until midnight at least. He wasn't about to talk back however. So he silently left the room.

When Wilbur reached the garage, he looked around. All hope vanished as his brown eyes scanned across paper scraps, old blueprints, oil stained rags, bits of machinery, and other various messes.

He groaned, and slumped down into a chair.

"I can't believe this…" he muttered, referring not to his new chore, but to his straining relationship with is parents. He was angry and confused. Why couldn't they just listen to what he had to say for just a minute, an don't get angry at him for it?

Wilbur finally pulled his head up from moping, and his eyes fell on a familiar object. He looked at the door, and then he stood up, defiantly saying aloud, "I'm going and you can't stop me!"

He trotted off, devising a plan in his head.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello! Yeah, it's been a short while. But I have an extra long chapter for y'all today! Longest one of this fanfic yet! Also, our favorite kid genius is introduced into the story in this chapter. :) So enjoy, and don't for get to R&R! ~T.R.**

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><p>Looking cautiously around, Wilbur continued walking across the garage. He made his way around heaps of machinery, rolled out blueprints and half finished inventions. When was the last time his dad had cleaned this place anyway?<p>

Wilbur went through a door, which surprisingly wasn't locked, and stood looking at the object of interest. He didn't really have a plan. He didn't even know his exact reason for going. All he knew, was that he needed to get away; to talk to someone. And he knew just who he wanted to talk to.

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><p>Lewis sat at his desk scribbling furiously in what was probably the fifth black and white composition book of that morning. The other four were already filled up with ideas and notes and figures and drawings, most of which were unintelligible to anyone but him and maybe his newest friend, Franny, who often came over to his new home to stare over his shoulder at what she fondly called his "crazy scientist chicken scratch".<p>

He was momentarily stumped on a mathematical issue with his latest invention; time and time again had he checked his figures, but things still didn't add up. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. Placing them back on his face, he got up and walked over to the window for a break.

Gazing out over their beautiful green yard, Lewis saw something that made his eyes grow wide. That familiar colorful orb appeared in the sky, swooping towards his window. Now his mouth was hanging open. He went over and threw open one of his many window, and stuck his upper body out.

"_WILBUR_?" Lewis cried. "What are you doing here? You're going to be in SO much trouble when you get back, home, um. Here? Oh, whatever! Don't you think we've gotten into enough trouble with that thing?"

Wilbur sat in the hovering time machine, grinning nonchalantly.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Lewis! We won't get into any trouble." said Wilbur with a roll of his eyes.

Lewis smacked his hand to his face. "You're right;_ I_ won't, but _you_ will!"

"Relax! I just came for a visit." said WIlbur, turning on stealth mode and hoping out of the time machine onto Lewis' windowsill.

Lewis ran his hand through his wild blond hair. "Something tells me that's not your only reason," he said.

Wilbur laughed a hollow laugh and looked anywhere but at Lewis. Lewis stood with his arms crossed and his foot tapping.

"ALRIGHT. I'm not getting along so great with Mom and Dad. How did you know? And is it so strange for a guy to visit his best friend every once in a while?"

Lewis laughed. "It is when they live in a different era! And Wilbur, I _am_ your dad. I know everything!" He said this last part with a waggle of his fingers in Wilbur's face, and then walked back over to his desk.

Wilbur made a face, "Okay, you creep me out sometimes."

Lewis laughed again. "I'll remember that when you're born!"

Wilbur shuddered again. "CREEPY!" he insisted. Apparently Lewis was very comfortable with the knowledge that his best friend was also his future son, but it still creeped Wilbur out. Wilbur jump down into Lewis' room and shut the window. Then he decided otherwise, and opened it again. Wouldn't do if one of his grandparents popped in to check on Lewis (Cornelius?...) only to find Wilbur there too.

"So, you planning on staying for any length of time?" asked Lewis from behind some strange looking contraption that Wilbur didn't recognize.

"I, uh, guess so. Why?"

"Well, we can't just waltz around announcing that you're from the future. You need an alias." said Lewis in his reasonable voice. Wilbur cringed. THAT was the voice his dad used when in an argument with him; the arguments Wilbur knew he could never win.

"True." said Wilbur. "So, what do you propose?"

Lewis was crawling under the machine now, but he stopped and stuck his head out. "If you didn't notice, I'm kind of busy. And besides, I thought you, secret agent Wilbur Robinson, were the expert at cover stories. Shall I find you a fruit hat?" and with that he disappeared again, chuckling to himself.

Wilbur groaned. "Hey, you're the genius who saved the space time thingy. You get to figure this one out."

"It's not like I invited you to come here!" Lewis' near shout came from underneath.

"What, you won't even welcome your _own_ son in his _own_ home?" said Wilbur sarcastically.

Lewis once again stuck his head out. "Touché." he said with a grin.

"Hey," began Wilbur, but at that moment they heard, accompanied by light fast footsteps running up the stairs,

"Cornelius! Cornelius? Are you busy? You're not ignoring me are you?"

"_Oh no!_" said Lewis, hauling himself out from under his project. Wilbur was confused, but knew he needed an explanation for who he was and what he was doing there!

"_Lewis_! What do we do?" he hissed. Lewis ran to the door and locked it, as the noises came closer. Thank goodness for enormous staircases!

"I don't know! Just don't say you're from around here, Franny would know better than that," began Lewis.

"_WHAT_? That's Mom?" cried Wilbur, just as the doorknob rattled.

Lewis made savage shushing motions. He unlocked the door and threw it open. "Hi Franny! Uh, what a pleasant surprise!" said Lewis with a overly fake smile. Franny raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Are you alright Cornelius? You're acting weird... Oh, hello!" she said, bouncing over to Wilbur. "Who're you?

Wilbur blinked, and Lewis made frantic motions behind Franny's back, trying to get him to say something.

"I'm, uh, his penpal! Yeah, his penpal. From... North Montana." said Wilbur. Franny was very confused, until Wilbur blurted out, "CANADA! I said Canada."

Franny backed up slowly, and whispered in Lewis' ear, "And people think _I'm _crazy..." Lewis knew that this was a very dangerous situation, but he was fighting back laughter now. North Montana? Oi vey. Even he had done a better job at blending in in the future than his son was doing here in the past.

"Say, Franny, want to see my newest invention?" Lewis finally managed to say.

"Sure!" she responded, momentarily distracted from Wilbur.

Wilbur gave a sigh of relief. He was safe, for now at least.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: 'Ello! I really like how this chapter turned out! When I had the ideas for this, they were kind of scattered and unrelated. But I think I did a good job pulling them together into a decent chapter. I already know what next chapter will be! It's gonna be fun; I'll get to write a meal at the Robinson home! With Franny and Wilbur involved too! :D**

**May the Force be with you, and keep moving forward!**

**~T.R.**

**Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own 'Meet the Robinsons'. I do own a dog though. And she's pretty awesome.**

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><p>Nothing else had gone wrong so far that morning. Thankfully, Franny was thoroughly distracted and amused by the machine that Lewis was working on. Wilbur hardly made anymore direct contact with her all he (and Lewis, for that matter) was dreading was lunch. What would he do when his grandparents came up to get Lewis for lunch? Of course, he had his cover story, (<em>Penpal from...uh... CANADA! I gotta remember that!<em> he kept thinking to himself) but this was going to be extremely hard! If he let even a little thing slip, like who won the superbowl fifteen years into the future or what companies went bankrupt later on, it could ruin the whole entire world! What if he said something that caused him to not even be born? A lot was on the thirteen year old boy's mind, and even though he looked quiet, and relatively bored on the outside, he was frantically trying to remember what not to say on the inside. His thoughts were interrupted when the three kids heard,

"Cornelius! Lunch is ready, dear!"

It practically took Wilbur's breath away; this was it. "_Don't. Screw. This. Up._" was running though his head over and over. He now wondered if coming back in time just to talk to Lewis was worth all the trouble... but then when he thought of his dad, and how disappointed he had made him, and how he was now (probably) furious with him for taking the time machine. Again.

Lewis pulled himself from underneath the contraption for the umpteenth time that morning, and stood up. He was filthy, and when he ran his hand through his hair nervously he only made it more dirty and stand up more wildly. "Hey, Fran, can you stay for lunch?" Franny bounced over to Lewis' desk and grabbed up his cordless phone.

"Sure! I'll just call my parents..." Lewis nodded, and said he was going to clean himself up. She nodded, and proceeded to dial her own number. As Wilbur was sitting at the desk, he heard the conversation:

"Hello Daddy!"

"Hello Sweetheart. Still at Cornelius' house?" his mother's father's voice became a bit reprimanding, "...you know you're late for lunch."

Franny cringed, and said in her sweetest voice, "I know Daddy, th-that's what I was calling about. Cornelius invited me to stay for lunch... is that okay with you and Mama?"

Wilbur heard an uncomfortably long pause, and then a sigh.

"I suppose it's alright Francesca. You spend so much time over at the Robinsons place... you're sure you're not intruding? I'm sure Cornelius is busy with school and-"

Franny cut in, "I promise I'm not Daddy, he invited me to stay!"

Another long silence, Mr. Framaguchi said, "Alright, you behave yourself. We love you."

"I will Daddy, I promise! Bye!" And with that she hung up. Wilbur jerked and looked away, trying his hardest not to look like he'd just listened intently to a telephone conversation. Franny pulled another chair over in front of Wilbur, moving a pile of papers carefully off of it and onto the ground. She sat down with the back of the chair facing forward, and leaned against it. This made her face come very close to Wilbur's. She just sat there, staring at him. Wilbur squirmed awkwardly, trying not to look her in the eyes. Even as a kid, his mom had deep brown, all seeing eyes. It was like they could see right past his lie about being Lewis' penpal from North Montana-erm, Canada.

"You're really weird. How long have you known Cornelius?" Franny finally broke the silence, making Wilbur jump out of his skin.

"Erm, a- uh, about a month?" Wilbur offered. Finally, an instance where he could tell the truth... sort of. _Technically_, he'd known Cornelius Robinson all his life. His first word had been gurggles of "Dada"... Wilbur steeled his emotions. He was still mad at his father. But he'd only known Lewis for a little more than a month.

"So, are you like, a genius too?" the little pig tailed girl asked. Wilbur instantly thought about his failed Algebra paper. He almost groaned out loud.

"Eeh, not _exactly_..." he began weakly. He realized he was leaning back hard in his chair, trying to get away from his mother and all her pesky questions. No use, of course.

"Well, what do you like to do?" she asked turning her head to the side. Wilbur was unknowingly staring at a carbon copy of the exact facial expression he'd made quite often as a little kid.

Trying to think of an answer that wouldn't make the universe explode, Wilbur answer, almost confidently, "Well, I train in martial arts..." He knew he'd made a mistake, however, when Franny's face lit up.

"REALLY! I'm a jr. black belt! What belt are you?" she was standing up on her knees in the chair now, and it was rocking back and forth violently.

Wilbur's eyes got round, and he replied, "Heh, what a coincidence; I'm a jr. black belt too." Now Franny was jumping down off of the chair, and bouncing up and down.

"How about we have a little sparring match while we wait for Cornelius?" she said enthusiastically. She was fairly bursting with excitement, Wilbur could tell that much. Even knowing this was his mom, master of martial arts, he was still hesitant to fight a ten year old girl. He was preparing himself to say "No", but his future mother ran over to him and grabbed him by the wrist. Gosh, for such a small kid she had a strong grip! She dragged him to a clear spot in the room, and jumped a few feet back. Without any warning, she threw up her hands and was in a fighting stance. Wilbur slowly caught on, not really on his guard, because he was sure that at ten, his mom couldn't possibly beat him.

...

_WHAM!_

Wilbur fell with a thud, onto his back, all of the wind being knocked out of him.

_Why did I do this... _he thought, regretting every second of it.

Franny had beat him. Bad. At first, Wilbur reluctantly blocked her blows, but since he couldn't bring himself to strike, she very quickly got the best of him.

"Ooowww... that's gonna be sore for a few days..." he muttered.

At that moment, Lewis entered the room, his hair combed and all traces of grease gone. He was a bit baffled by what he found though. Wilbur lying on the floor, groaning, and Franny standing grinning up at him.

"We had a sparring match while you were gone." she stated simply, as if that explained everything. And in fact, it did.

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><p><strong>Note: I wanted to write out Franny and Wilbur's fight, but I didn't want to mess it up by doing it too quickly, especially when I'm not in the mood to write a fight scene. ;P But dont' worry, that will definately be added before I call this story finished! ~T.R.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello again! Another average length chapter. I was hoping this one would be longer, but I felt like the ending was very nice, and that it stopped at a good point. Also, a shoutout and special thanks to the lovely and amazing Fallon Skywalker, who preread this for me, and totally fangirled over it. ;D Love you Fallykins! ;3 PLEASE take a moment and go check out her fanfics! THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!**

**Read and review, pwetty pwease? And as always,**

_**keep moving foward.**_

**~T.R.**

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><p>Lewis, Franny and Wilbur all blundered down the very long, very wide staircase that wound down the center of the Robinson house. Wilbur wondered how anyone got anything done in that time; everyone spent so much time running around, and up and down stairs. How did they have time for anything else? He figured that at this age, whenever Lewis wasn't in some college lecture, he probably spent most of his time up in his lab, wasting the nights away inventing.<p>

They were about a dozen feet from the ground, when a brilliant idea popped into Wilbur's head. He got a good running start, and leapt up onto the banister, on his stomach with his feet towards the floor. He shot down the freshly polished banister, grinning at what he considered his "self awesomeness". Franny burst into giggles, and proceeded to do the same. She came crashing down upon Wilbur, who had landed at the foot of the stairs with a crash. Lewis jumped the last few stairs to find his future wife, and future son lying in a giggling heap on the floor. He stood for a minute, gazing at them, thinking back (...forward?) to the amazing future that was in store for him.

Lewis was snapped from his daydream, and Wilbur and Franny were startled from the floor when Lewis' adoptive mother fairly ran into the foyer, saying, "There you kids are! I was just coming up to get you! Cornelius, you're so clean! I thought I hear you working on your secret invention! Oh, won't you tell us what it is? Or at least me! I'll keep it a secret!" Lucille threw her arm around her son's shoulders and gave him a rough hug, shaking him around spastically. Lewis laughed, his face lighting up with happiness. His mother was so enthusiastic and excitable. And loving.

"I cleaned up a bit for dinner, Mom. Say, um, is it okay if Franny and my- er, penpal Wilbur stay for dinner? Fran's already called her parents, and Wilbur... well he has permission." Wilbur cringed as Lewis gave him a hard look that all but said, _That doesn't mean you're not in for it when you get back. Your mother and I are going to punish you so hard when you go back..._ The partially open threat is what made Wilbur cringe. What sort of cruelty could failed math, a yet again stolen time machine, and not completing his previous punishment bring upon him?

"Well of course Franny can stay! You know you're always welcome dear!" Lucille said happily. "I see why you cleaned yourself up Neil." She whispered, elbowing him in the shoulder. Wilbur nearly laughed out loud, smashing his open palm over his mouth, and making a strange coughin noise.

"_Mooom_." Lewis hissed, turning bright red. Thankfully Franny was already halfway into the dining room and didn't notice.

Wilbur would have to think about his terrible punishment later, because his grandmother (Geez, she so... young. thought Wilbur) had grabbed him by the hand and was shaking it violently saying, "Oooh, it's nice to meet you! I didn't know Cornelius had a penpal!" Grinning from ear to ear, she dragged Lewis and Wilbur into the dining room, with Franny skipping along ahead. It was apparent that Franny has stayed for dinner many a time before, because she seemed to know what was coming. Everyone was gathering, and they all seated themselves at the long table. Franny fit right into the picture, as both Lewis and Wilbur thought.

As Wilbur settled into his chair (the one he always sat in at dinner time in the future), he looked around. It was the same, but... different. The table was so... empty. With just his grandparents, and parents as kids, it was an entirely different experience. And on top of that, Wilbur caught himself wondering what was taking Carl so long. He smiled to himself, and looked up to see Lucille bringing in... spaghetti! Wilbur glanced at Lewis, who was grinning meaningfully at him from across the table. Spaghetti was a meaningful meal for nearly everyone now. In the future, the Robinsons always spoke fondly of "Lewis", poking fun at father and son when they had spaghetti dinners.

The large dish of spaghetti was placed in the middle of them, and everyone began eagerly to serve each other. Wilbur was casually eating his food, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lewis wink at Franny. A high pitched giggle escaped her lips, but she clapped her hand over her mouth before anyone else noticed. Wilbur instantly knew what was coming, and couldn't help but grin. He watched, still eating slowly and with upstanding manners, as Franny and Lewis both quietly loaded their forks with noodles dripping with red sauce. His grin spreading wider, as Wilbur braced himself for war.

Lewis suddenly nodded, and Franny nodded back. And then it was every man for himself! The two kids were flinging faster than Wilbur could keep up. Lucille was laughing her crazy laugh, and Bud was picking spaghetti off of the back (...which was his front...) of his shirt while trying to throw with the other hand. Before long, the dining room was ringing with loud laughter, though not the same as Wilbur was used to in the future. His mother's laugh was shrill and girlish, and his father's what still high pitched and young. Not to mention, there were plenty of laughs missing. But it was interesting to Wilbur, seeing his dad as a kid in his future home.

After a good five minutes the laughter died down to occasional chuckles, and everyone began to clear away the table. A new thing for Wilbur, since all of his life Carl and the Mini Carls had done it for them. It was fun though, he could laugh and joke with his family's younger selves. It made him stop and think. He saw now more than ever why Lewis had wanted so much to stay in the future, to be a Robinson before his time. The grass always seemed to be greener on the other side... Wilbur caught himself several times while going back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen thinking, _What if I just stayed here... not forever, but..._ He had to shake himself, and remember the trouble time traveling had gotten them into before. More and more, his visit here was beginning to seem like a bad idea. It was only a matter of time before it all went sour...


End file.
